Fanhokkayan #4: Minagahet Mission
Here is the statement of purpose or mission that myself and a few others wrote up all those years ago, to explain why we had started the Minagahet Zine.
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Minagahet - in Chamorro is truth. And idea behind the
creation of this zine, is to find new access to truth. On Guam for so long, the
idea of truth as been either dictated to us, or imported into Guam by others.
Most of our ideas about ourselves, about life, about the world, and therefore
the ideas that control and influence our future have been imposed on us through
our affiliation with the Untied States. This is not to say that there have been
no benefits, but only that while we praise and hold up for all to see the
benefits, we hide, do not discuss or ignore the ill effects and the negative
impact it has had on our island and culture.
The hope of this zine is to discuss our past, present and
future in our own terms, and in different terms than we traditionally find
ourselves speaking in. If you look at the media make-up of Guam, there is one
big newspaper, one big news program, and one news radio channel. With this kind
of unilateral approach to truth and truth-telling it would be very easy to see things,
and think of things in very specific ways.
What we need to do is go beyond the traditional modes of
thought. In a very basic way, Chamorros are beginning to re-take and re-tell
their history and so on in small academic circles, however as far as media, and
daily media representations, the presence is limited and shaped by a very
small circle of people.
This zine is committed to promoting alternative ideas and
ways of thinking about Guam and its status, whether political, social,
cultural, economic and so on. It is committed to the decolonization of Guam,
and educating Chamorros and others on Guam about decolonization, and the vital
need for it. It is also committed to promoting Chamorro ideals and their way of
life, which does not necessarily mean ancient latte stones, or working on the
lancho, or being Catholic. But rather implies that Chamorros and their way of
life, their thoughts, their ideas and forms of expression have value has being
Chamorro first, rather then being American first and Chamorro second.
It is the belief of this writer, that the first step to
providing a better future for Chamorros as well as the island of Guam is to
decolonize our island politically, as well as socially, economically and
culturally. This does not mean, the US vanishes in instant overnight or we
completely cut ties with modernity and live in huts. The first step, and the
hardest mental step to decolonization is the deconstruction of America. The
reduction of our dependency on, not necessarily America in any material sense,
but the idea itself, and the ideas we put on it. Democracy is not an American
invention, ingenuity and hard work are not American inventions, human rights
and liberty, freedom are not American-only commodities. In fact, considering Guam's
history for the past century, the opposite could be just as true.
Chamorros existed long before America did, and they believed
in ideas of freedom, liberty and hard work long before America came into being.
And if Chamorros are still on this planet today, it is not because of America,
but because of themselves, their efforts and their strength, and that mane'lu-hu
yan manaina-hu siha is the minagahet.
Si Yu'us Ma'ase
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